Title: The Missionary As Stranger: Phenomenological Analysis of Christian Missionaries' Encounter with the Folk Religions of Thailand Description: Two major dimensions of strangeness, the cognitive and the normative, are distinguished in Schuetz’s classical phenomenological model of transition from strangeness to familiarity. It is argued that there is a category of stranger whose roles and obligations encourage a cognitive, but preclude a normative transition from strangeness to familiarity. The argument is examined on empirical data on Christian missionaries in Thailand. Specifically, the changing attitudes to local beliefs in spirits (phii) and their accommodation into the missionaries’ worldview are examined. It is found that the missionaries tend to ‘Christianize’ the spirits, thus modifying their worldview, but not changing it fundamentally. Subject: Contextualization Type: Article Year Published: 1990 Pages: 15 Filesize:
Title: Christianity and Buddhism in Thailand: The "Battle of the Axes" and the "Contest of Power" Description: Insightful article written by a non-Christian about the difficultly missionaries have in converting Thai's to Christianity. The article contrasts the difference between Buddhist thought and Christian thought and how effects the spread of Christianity in Thailand Subject: Contextualization; Buddhism Type: Research Paper Year Published: 1991 Pages: 27 Filesize:
